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Father’s Day Thoughts from Jeremy

I’m sitting here the night before Fathers Day and just thinking on my boys. I’ve only known the youngest for 5 months but he seems ok. He’s a my little man and every time he sees me for the first time everyday he gives the biggest toothless smile he can muster. I love him very much and I look forward to getting to know him as time passes.

My oldest, on the other hand, I know pretty well. He’s been living with us for almost 4 years now and I couldn’t imagine life without him. I vividly remember the first day I met him. He was wrapped up in a bathroom towel in a small house outside of St Joseph, Tennessee while the midwife and assistant tended to his mom after a long day. He was literally minutes old and staring at me so calmly as if he had known me before he entered this outside world. Time had stopped and all I could think about was how he was mine. He was bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. He was my son, who having done nothing but exist, I loved dearly simply because he was mine. I told him I was his dad and that he was my son and I was gonna teach him everything.

I’ve got a lot to learn about being a dad. However, in my short tenure I’ve found that more so than the traditional parenting model will submit, fathers need to play a part in nurturing their children. Yes I said nurturing….. sounds like something only moms do right? Or at the least it sounds like something that only a mother can do the way it’s supposed to be done. A man would just mess it up and look stupid in the process. Dads….. that’s a lie. Your boy or girl needs your love and compassion, a kiss on the head at bedtime, a hug for no reason at all, an I love you out of the blue. They want you to play with toys with them, throw them up high, make silly faces in the mirror, and more than anything just be with you.

I know these are jumbled thoughts but it was what was on my mind and heart tonight in reflection on being a father. It’s my hope that all dads experience the joy that I have with my boys. Don’t let anything keep you from loving your children well. Most parents only have 18-22 summers with them. Then they’re off making kids of their own but I’m sure that part is fun, too.